Tag Archives: BioFach

These pearls are manufactured for you from organic potato starch which comes from organic potatoes grown in the pristine Finnish countryside.

Enjoy your pearls in hot porridges, puddings, pancakes, sweet desserts and pies. Or improve the texture of your casseroles and meatballs with pearls.

Our pearls have a mild taste, making them a favourite with everyone in the family – babies as well as seniors and everyone in between. This product is organic and Kosher certified as well as Halal certified. And if you have special dietary requirements such as coeliac, vegan or low allergies, this is for you.

Ingredients: organic potato starch, citric acid (E330)

Resistant Starch 24g/100g

Organic SAGO Pearls are free from

gluten

allergens

gmo’s

milk and dairy

egg

Organic SAGO Pearls are

Vegan and vegetarian

with no added salt or sugar

a good source of resistant starch

Kosher certified

Halal certified

We will be exhibiting at BioFach in Germany 10.-13.2.2016 at Finland national stand. Finnish top chef Kim Palhus will be there preparing Finnish food including some of the below. Come over and taste the Sago potato pearl and meet us in Hall 5 – Stand 131!

Looking forward to meeting you at BioFach!

Recipes

SAGO Potato Porridge (4 servings)

1 litre milk

2,5 dl organic Sago pearls

1 tsp salt

1 tbs butter

Bring the milk to a boil and then add the Pearls. Simmer for 8 minutes while stirring constantly. Take the pot off the heat, put the lid on and allow the porridge to steep for 1-2 minutes. Add salt and butter according to your taste.

SAGO pearl pudding – gluten free (5 servings)

8 dl milk

2 dl Sago potato pearls

¾ tsp salt

1 Tbsp. butter or margarine

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp vanilla sugar

2 eggs

Bring the milk to the boil and then add the Sago potato pearls. Allow to simmer for 8 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and allow the porridge to steep for 1-2 minutes, with the lid on. Add salt to taste and a knob of butter.

Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.

Pour the mixture into a greased oven dish. Bake for 20 minutes at 200 °C. Serve warm with lingonberry kissel.

Lingonberry kissel

2 dl lingonberry juice

3 dl water

2 Tbsp. Organic potato starch

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp vanilla sugar

Add juice and water to a saucepan. Add the potato starch and sugar.

Bring to simmering point, stirring all the time. Add the vanilla sugar and allow to cool.

Vegetable chicken casserole – gluten and lactose free (4 servings)

300 g L´uomunokka´s boneless chicken breast, cut into strips

100 g diced fresh onion

500 g vegetable strips (frozen)

1 ½ dl Sago potato pearls

2 dl heavy cream

2 dl water

¾ tsp salt

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Fry the chicken strips in a frying pan. Add the onion and fry together for a minute. Add the vegetables and Sago potato pearls. Transfer this to a greased casserole dish.

Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and add to the chicken mixture. Press down the surface with a spatula. Bake at 200 °C for about 45 minutes.

An obligatory system for measuring the environmental performance of processors and traders has been proposed by the Commission. Three reports with recommendations on organic processing practices, additives, flavour and processing aids delivered by the Expert Group for Technical Advice in Organic Production (EGTOP) in 2014. IFOAM EU proposed a way to reach the 100% organic ingredient concepts. All this happened in 2014. It is now the moment for stakeholders to discuss and to support the further progress of organic processing and trading towards the next level of sustainability

When you bake you want to have a leavening effect in the dough, i.e. somehow incorporate gas bubbles in the dough or batter to make the final product lighter and softer. How is this achieved? The most traditional method – and certainly still the best if you want to bake quality bread – is using sourdough. 19th century bakers also used brewers yeast and it was only in the early 20th century that commercial baker’s yeast as we know it became available.

Sourdough and yeast are biological methods of leavening the dough by fermenting sugars in the dough into carbon dioxide (CO2) and ethanol. On the other hand soda and baking powder are chemical leavening agents. The purpose is to create CO2 gas and steam (water) in the dough in an easily manageable way. Soda and baking powder are used in quick breads and cakes, as well as cookies and numerous other applications where a biological fermentation is impractical or undesirable. Used as a leavening agent, baking powder lightens texture and increases the volume of baked goods such as muffins, cakes, pancakes, and cookies.

Baking powders were used already in the mid 19th century and became widespread in the early 20th century. It is interesting to realize that baking powder was commercialized earlier than baker’s yeast.

What is Baking Powder?

Baking powder is a dry leavening agent, a mixture of a weak alkali and a weak acid and a bulking agent (starch). Baking powder works by releasing carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid-base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture.

The alkaline component is baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). The acid can be either fast-acting (reacts in room temperatures) or slow-acting (reacts in high temperatures, i.e. in the oven) while baking powders containing both are called double-acting. However the slow-acting acids are not allowed in organic products* so only fast-acting acids can be used in organic baking powder.

Baking soda is the source of the CO2 gas, and the acid-base reaction can be generically represented as

NaHCO3 + H+ → Na+ + CO2 + H2O,

where CO2 (carbon dioxide), water (steam) and salts are the result of the acid-base reaction.

If the dough contains acidic ingredients it is not necessary to use baking powder as baking soda will react with the acids in the dough.

Starch is used as a bulking agent in baking powder for two main reasons:

To absorb moisture. This is important for preventing the components from reacting with each other prematurely and thereby for the shelf life of the baking powder.

For better and more even mixing and more accurate measurement.

Double Function Baking Powder

Both corn starch and potato starch are used as bulking agents in Baking Powders but potato starch is a functional bulking agent and has clear advantages:

low swelling temperature

excellent protective film-making properties

increases leavening effect

reduces moisture migration

potato starch is 100% allergen-free including gluten-free

potato starch is 100% GMO-free.

Potato starch starts to swell at less than 60 degrees Celsius and reaches maximum at 80 Celsius. After this point the starch granules start to break and form a gel. In a baking process this increases the leavening effect of Baking Powder by forming a protective film inside the gas bubbles thereby preventing the gas from escaping and the dough from falling. By comparison corn starch does not have a similar effect as it starts to swell at much higher temperatures and won’t function in baking temperatures.

Similarly a protective film is formed on the surface of the baked product. The result is a more crispy product and reduced moisture migration. For example cookies stay crispy for a longer time. This effect – if desirable – can be enhanced by adding more potato starch than what is already in the Aloja Baking Powder.

The main difference between potato starch and corn starch – or any other starch for that matter – is the lower swelling temperature of potato starch. This is also the key issue why potato starch is better than corn starch as a carrier in Baking Powder. Actually we can say that Aloja Starkelsen has created a Double Function Baking Powderby using potato starch.

Organic Blueberry Muffins (including Organic Baking Powder) on their way into the oven….

Potato starch is clean with no known allergy issues and it is gluten-free. There are no GMO potatoes grown in Europe which eliminated any risk of GMO contamination.

… and after 35 minutes in the over.

Why Organic Baking Powder?

Baking powder is not your typical organic product as it is not food as such. However over half of baking powder is actually starch – which in an organic product must be organic – while the other half are the soda and acid. We offer baking powder as bulk to organic manufacturers and as a consumer packed product.

A manufacturer of baked products in which baking powder is used has two choices: to buy organic baking powder or to buy the components of baking powder separately and blend them on-site. For a small and mid-size operator it is more efficient to buy an accurately blended baking powder from a professional manufacturer. Inaccurate blending can result in residues and off-flavor in the final product.

For a consumer blending is not an option. Most Baking Powders that are available in supermarkets contain corn starch which cannot be guaranteed to be Gmo-free and don’t offer the same functionality as potato starch. Double acting baking powders can contain aluminium. However the Aloja Organic Baking Powder is thanks to potato starch double functioning and it is a certified organic product.

Applications

Baking powder is used in bakeries in muffins, cakes, cookies, biscuits and fast breads. It can also be used in deep frying to create crispy coatings or in fried sweets. The dosage is the same as for conventional baking powder: 1 teaspoon of baking powder for 1 cup of flour or approximately 2% of the flour.

Due to the equivalency agreement between the EU and the USA all organic products (with a few exceptions) that are certified organic according to EU regulation 834/2007 in a EU member state and shipped to the USA or Canada can be sold and labeled as organic in those countries. USDA: Importing organic products from the European Union.

As we all know BioFach is the most important and intensive come-together in the organic movement and industry. BioFach 2012 is approaching at a huge speed: in less than 2 weeks most of us will be heading to Nuerenberg. For me personally it is the 13th time at BioFach – my first time was in 1995 in Frankfurt. Since 1996 I have been there as an exhibitor most of the years and pretty much stuck on the Finland joint stand since 2004. This year the situation is a bit different as I have only 2 companies from the “Organic Food Finland export group” exhibiting: Finnamyl Ltd (potato starch) and Nordic Koivu (birch sap). So I decided to be on the stand only for pre-arranged meetings and walk the show for the first time in ages. Although – looking at my calendar – it seems that I will be rushing from one meeting to an other…

Finnamyl is offering certified organic potato starch to the market – including NOP certified potato starch from Aloja Starkelsen in Latvia. We actually have some stock left but we also want to discuss the future needs of our customers and start discussions for contracting the 2012 campaign.

Nordic Koivu is offering birch sap into three different channels: for retail in the beautiful 500 ml glass bottle, for the beverage industry for developing exiting new products and for the natural and organic cosmetics industry.

Finland and Sweden are together in one joint block in Hall 1 – Stand 602 between the Danish and the French. Altogether there is some 10 companies in Finnish-Swedish block which is less than for many years. It might look like a backward development but actually the biggest single reason is probably the very positive development in those countries. The manufacturers have markets closer by! In Finland the organic market value grew over 50% in 2011 and we expect strong growth to continue through 2012.

In the past years the availability of organic potato starch has been insufficient on the European market. This has created a bottleneck for some processed organic products where potato starch would be the natural choice ingredient. Now Aloja Starkelsen Ltd in Latvia – a subsidiary of Swedish Culinar Ltd – and Finnish Finnamyl Ltd have entered into cooperation for expanding organic potato starch production and market. Culinar in Sweden and Latvia together with Finnamyl in Finland represent about one third of the total production of organic potato starch in Europe. The production will be further increased in Latvia and Finland in the coming years securing a reliable long-term source for processors in need of organic potato starch. The native potato starch is available certified both to EU organic standards and to NOP standards for the US market.

Potato starch has applications in many food products including soups and sauces, canned food, noodles and pasta, bakery products and processed meat products among others.

The organic potato starch will be presented at Culinar’s stand in the Organic Pavilion of Food Ingredients Exhibition (FIE stand 3D82 in Hall 3) in Paris on 30.11. to 1.12. and at Finnamyl’s stand in BioFach in Nuremberg in February 2012.

The sales of the organic potato starch from both Culinar and Finnamyl is taken care of by Organic Food Finland who has been responsible for sales of organic potato starch from Finnamyl since 2003. Mr Erkki Pöytäniemi at Organic Food Finland has a long experience in international organic business and export. His contact details can be found below or you can use the contact form.

Pure and clean organic food from Finland will be presented at the BioFach organic trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany on 16–19 February 2011. Finnish companies have joined forces with companies from other Nordic countries to exhibit their products at a joint pavilion.

Finland is known for its clean natural environment and ecological know-how. The organic products presented at BioFach are examples of the very best organic production and extensive research and development within the Finnish food industry. In Finland, technological know-how and understanding of ecological processes lay an excellent basis for clean organic food production.

”We believe that the pure Finnish natural environment, strong agricultural tradition and high technological know-how form the best possible basis for clean and safe organic food production for international markets”, says the Finnish representative of BioFach, Mr Arto Varanki from Spokesman Events Oy, who is coordinating the Nordic pavilion and Finnish participation.

”The joint Nordic stand of Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway is already a tradition at BioFach, and together the four countries are set to make an impact”, Varanki says.

Organic food production is also one of the top issues concerning the new Finnish national brand. The brand was released after initiation by Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb. Finnish companies joining BioFach have been devoted and energetic advocates of organic products for several years, commencing long before the release of the new national brand. Germany and other countries in Western Europe as well as the Far East are important trade partners for Finnish organic food producers.

“This year Finnish companies are focusing on consumer products more than before. We have several products based on pure Finnish raw-materials and speciality grains like rye, oats and buckwheat. We have free-from products and products with proven health benefits – all based on the rich food traditions and nature of Finland. We are eagerly looking forward to presenting them to the organic trade at BioFach”, says Organic Food Finland export manager Mr Erkki Pöytäniemi. Organic Food Finland is an export group including, amongst others, six of the Finnish BioFach exhibitors.

The Danish opening speaker Evald Vestergaard spoke Danish and Mona Hedenskog spoke Swedish so I of course started my speech in Finnish. I could see the Finnish listeners laughing and the others also laughing in confusion. Well, I did switch to English after the first few sentences…

Ladies and Gentlemen

Back in 1997 the Nordic countries was region of the year at BioFach. After that we have drifted apart even though there has been discussions about a Nordic joint stand almost every year. Not until 2009 did Finland and Sweden join forces with a joint stand area in Hall 3. Now in 2010 all four Nordic countries are together under “Nordic Organics”. I think there are many good reasons to do so. We have a common culture, values and history… Some might add language to the list but as we noticed in the beginning of my speech, there might be some problems there. Finnish is a totally different language. But some theories say that 2000 years ago the population in all Nordic countries spoke Finnish, before the germanic languages came from the south – so actually there was a common language.

To continue the list: the pure nature and harsh climate are an important part of the Nordic climate. Of course in more northern parts of Norden – like Finland – this is more true than in the more southernly parts. Farming systems are similar and the food culture. And the high percentage of organic farming in all Nordic countries not to mention the well developed organic market especially in Denmark and Sweden. Looking from other parts of the world Nordic countries have a strong positive image that we should use to our advantage.

The Nordic stand area also gives us opportunities to know each other better, strengthen the Nordic network and to do more business together.

The Nordic Restaurant and Tapas bar is this years great achievement and we expect a lot of it. We are very pleased with the cooperation with the Danish Food Council and the funding from the Nordic Council. Especially pleased I am about the funding we received from the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, which was arranged with astonishing flexibility and speed and enabled us to have also Finland’s ambassador chef Kim Palhus here with us presenting New Nordic Food (Ny Nordick Mat) with a Finnish kick.

BioFach in Nuremberg, Germany, is the world’s leading exhibition for organic products. Finnish companies have joined forces with other Nordic countries to exhibit their products at a joint pavilion. The “Nordic Organics” area will also include an organic kitchen and restaurant hosted by the Finnish Ambassador Chef Kim Palhus.

“We will serve the best examples of Finnish organic food in the Nordic restaurant”, says Mr Kim Palhus, Ambassador Chef of Finland and the Chef of the Hanasaari Swedish-Finnish Cultural Centre. “Everything will be prepared with pure Nordic ingredients. Despite the cold winter season, our Finnish kitchen boasts clean and savoury ingredients like root vegetables as well as grain and berry products and many other organic products of the Finnish BioFach-exhibitors. I’m happy to help promote the New Nordic Kitchen as well as the export and marketing efforts of Finnish organic food producers.”

Finnish organic food is among the best of the world

“All the Finnish companies joining the Nordic pavilion at BioFach are devoted and energetic advocates of organic products focussing on the development of their products and their activities. They are small and middle-sized companies who formed an export group”, says the CEO and Export Director of Organic Food Finland, Mr Erkki Pöytäniemi.

Organic Food Finland is an export group managing the overseas selling of organic goods from nine participating companies. Their trade volume to Nordic countries, Western Europe and the Far East amounts to nearly four million Euros.

The yearly export of Finnish organic goods totals some 14 million Euros. Grain is the most important product. About 6.5 per cent of the Finnish field area is currently certified as organic with the proportion being on the rise. Finland is among the three biggest producers of organic oats in Europe. The yield of organic oats and wheat is higher than needed for national consumption. The Finnish export of organic oats is among the highest in the world with prices being very competitive. Organic oats is exported increasingly in the form of flakes.

Come and see the unforgettable Nordic pavilion

For the first time at Biofach the Nordic expertise in organic production is presented on this scale. “The Nordic cooperation started last year with Finland and Sweden having a common stand. After long negotiations we also got Denmark and Norway to join us. Denmark is one of the most important organic producers in Europe and together all the four countries are set to make an impact”, says the Finnish representative of BioFach, Mr Arto Varanki from Spokesman Events Oy, who coordinates the Nordic pavilion and the Finnish participation.

“The Nordic pavilion is an excellent approach for Finnish companies to present themselves to international markets and to network with visitors and other exhibitors. For BioFach visitors the Nordic pavilion is a unique concept well worth visiting, particularly with its magnificent kitchen and restaurant offering top quality organic goods”, Varanki points out.

BioFach is now in its 2ist year. Last year it brought together 2,733 exhibitors and 46,771 trade visitors from 119 countries.

The Finnish exhibitors welcome journalists to their stands (joint stand 1-410 and Viiniverla stand 4A-415) as well as to the Nordic kitchen and restaurant (stand 1-604).

Again one organic year has passed and BioFach is approaching fast. For anybody working in international organic business a year is not the calendar year, it is counted from BioFach to BioFach on week 7 in February. So I presume many of you reading this blog are also heading to BioFach and I hope to meet you there!

This year Organic Food Finland is back in Hall 1 (stand 410) and the Nordic cooperation has been expanded. You will find us under the “Nordic Organics” banner together with Denmark and Sweden. The Nordic countries do have some things in common so cooperation is natural. Organic Food Finland will be in one block and 10 companies are exhibiting – or actually everyone in the group. Feel free to contact myself or Lhassan for arranging a meeting there (email: info@organic-finland.com). Or you can just pop in to see what is new from Organic Finland.

An exciting part of the Nordic cooperation is the Nordic Kitchen and Restaurant we will have on the Nordic Organics stand area. The restaurant will focus on showcasing the New Nordic Cuisine (Ny Nordisk Mat) and of course the products of the Nordic exhibitors. At lunch time there will be lunch served so this is an excellent place in the middle of a busy day when you get hungry. Apart from the staff chefs who are preparing delicious Nordic food, Finland’s Ambassador Chef Kim Palhus will be present and showcase New Nordic Cuisine “version Finland” – of course using raw-materials from our exhibitors as much as possible. So be sure to be there on Wednesday or Thursday for a treat!